This week, it’s all about time management. Please don’t turn a 30 minute work out into an hour and a half ordeal! When going to workout – run, bike ride, lift, swim, etc – you’ve got to come up with personal systems that can minimize your time pre and post workout. That way you can spend the majority of your time actually working out instead of showering, changing, etc.
I make people’s heads spin when I’m in the locker room because I’m in and out so fast. For example, today a group of guys were getting ready when I walked into the locker room. I ended up going outside before them. I then passed them as they were going into the showers and I was coming into the building. Finally, I actually beat them out of locker room after I showered. So to recap – they took more time getting ready before and after and had a shorter workout. I got a longer workout in and less total time.
Some suggestions that I find useful:
- For early morning workouts, have everything ready the night before.
- Minimize the tasks you do to get ready before and afterwards.
- When getting dressed/undressed – have a routine – work up or work down (I work from the top down – hat, shirt, shorts, shoes, etc)
- No doing things twice – for instance buckling my belt – yep – I actually think it through, so if I’m wearing a shirt that needs to be tucked in, I won’t buckle until everything is in place.
- Keep a separate bathroom kit in your workout bag that has all of the essentials.
- Limit what’s in your bag to only the essentials – nothing else.
- Have a routine with your clothes/laundry – get enough socks and underwear that you don’t run out, but not too many so you know what you like.
These may seem like little things, but if you can shave off 2 minutes of prep time before a workout and 3 minutes afterwards, that’s an extra five minutes per day. If you work out five times a week, that’s an extra 25 minutes – which means you can run an extra three miles per week for the same time commitment. Time is precious and workout time is precious – get the most of the workout time you can.